February 9, 2008

SoFoBoMo – Print on Demand (POD)

I continue to consider the use of the Print on Demand (POD) for my SoFoBoMo project book. So now I am full and active a member of both LuLu (lulu.com) and Blurb (www.blurb.com) POD communities. That may be my best option since I am a PC user and not a Mac guy. My attempts at trying to understand LuLu early last year was a disaster. Thus I am more apt right now to take my first full attempt with Blurb. When I did a quick review of LuLu earlier in the day, it looks like the competition has done them some good.

Both POD options offer a horizontal book format, with a slightly larger size and slightly lower pricing in the favor of Blurb. I have not tried any of their templates yet, and both have one for photo books and one for portfolio books. I think that the photo book templates allow for more full bleeds and more composite picture options.

So then comes the decision to keep the book private or make the book available through their sales networks and whether to go hard cover (more expensive, but hopefully a little nicer presentation) or soft cover, e.g. the perfect bound, which might be a nice low cost option for creating a book proposal.

With the other things that I am trying to get in order, I probably won’t mess with either of these two options until the end of this month or beginning of March.

And I am still thinking that the strand of Newport Beach out on the peninsula would be a nice place to work on the photography side of this series. In the middle of May, you usually get some early June gloom that is so famous for that area, which is foggy and overcast. Yes, better to vacation on the beaches in Southern California from the middle of July through the end of September. The water temperature is the best at the end of August into early September, gets into the high 60’s (F) maybe the low 70’s, otherwise it is high 50’s and very low 60’s. Cooooold.

Best regards, Doug

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I understand what you say about Lulu … I could not figure it out neither last year.

I have used Blurb a number of times, and in general I like the product. Nevertheless, it is important that you realize that the quality of the prints in the book are years light from the far superior inkjet prints … there is no way to compare both.

What Blurb offers is a nice book, with nice cover and decent picture quality for what it is. But don’t expect the same quality you can get in a published “real” Photo book … or you will be disappointed …

Even with this said, I still use and plan to use Blurb … but now I am more inclined to use the folios approach as you described in your previous post.

When I get as far as the actual publication stage (for basic completion, I will probably have to rely on finishing a PDF presentation), I have been thinking about Blurb. I am eager to see what you find in your continued investigation.

I meant to shout a “Hurrah” at your mention of doing a folio of your early landscape work. That body of work is beautiful and certainly deserves a folio treatment